1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to foot pedals for drums, in particular, bass drums, which are beaten by beaters (or mallets) interconnected with foot boards (or pedals) when depressed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Foot pedals are normally used for playing bass drums and are operated by users (or operators) who depress foot boards (or pedals) with their feet, thus rotatably moving beaters (or mallets) to beat drumheads of bass drums. Specifically, a beater rod is attached to a rotation shaft of the foot board via a rocker, so that when the foot board is depressed by operator""s foot, a beater attached to the tip end of the beater rod is rotatably moved to beat the bass drum. Herein, the front end of the foot board is interconnected with the rocker via a depression transmission member such as a belt and a chain, while the back end of the foot board is interconnected with a heel, which is mutually interconnected with a pedal frame via an interconnection rod. The pedal frame and the heel are normally arranged on the floor surface. Various examples of foot pedals have been disclosed in Japanese Examined Utility-Model Publication No. Sho 55-45433, Japanese Examined Utility-Model Publication No. Sho 58-43035, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-314447, for example.
In the aforementioned foot pedal, the pedal frame and the heel are interconnected together in such a way that end portions of the interconnection rod are bent and are then detachably attached to holes formed at prescribed positions of the pedal frame, or they are fixed to prescribed positions of the pedal frame using fastening members such as bolts. Even when the pedal frame and the heel are interconnected together via the interconnection rod, there is a possibility that the foot board and the heel may be mutually shifted in position from each other due to bending or deflection of the interconnection rod during the play of a bass drum with the foot pedal, or they may be deflected to be partially floated above the floor surface. This causes problems in terms of stability in playing of the foot pedal.
Japanese Examined Utility-Model Publication No. Hei 7-41036 discloses an example of a foot pedal for a drum, which is designed to improve the stability in playing by solving the aforementioned problems. This foot pedal is characterized by replacing the interconnection rod with a base plate (or a stabilizing board), which are fixed to both sides of the pedal frame by use of bolts.
The aforementioned example of the foot pedal requires two bolts in order to secure fixation of the base plate to the pedal frame; hence, the total number of bolts required for assembling the foot pedal must be increased, and it takes a relatively long time to attach and detach the base plate and the pedal frame. In addition, bolts are partially projected from both sides of the pedal frame, which deteriorates the exterior appearance of the foot pedal and which increases dimensions in width of the pedal frame. Furthermore, there is a problem in that the user (or operator) may slip his/her foot on the bolt(s) during the playing of a bass drum with the aforementioned foot pedal.
It is an object of the invention to provide a foot pedal for a drum, which allows the operator to easily and promptly attach and detach a base plate with a pedal frame in assembly.
A foot pedal for a drum according to this invention is basically constituted by a pedal frame, a rotation shaft, a rocker, a beater rod having a beater, a foot board, and a base plate. Herein, the rocker to which the beater rod is firmly attached is fixed to the rotation shaft that is bridged and rotatably supported between upper ends of support members planted on the upper surface of a frame body of the pedal frame. In addition, the front end of the foot board is interconnected with the rocker via a depression transmission member, and the back end of the foot board is interconnected with a heel. Furthermore, the front portion of the base plate is affixed to the lower surface of the frame body of the pedal frame, and the back portion of the base plate is affixed to the lower surface of the heel.
In the above, the front portion of the base plate and the lower surface of the frame body of the pedal frame are firmly fixed to each other using a screw and are appropriately positioned using engagement means such as projections and engagement holes.
Specifically, the head and external thread portion of the screw are projected from the lower surface of the frame body and are engaged with a through hole that is formed in the front portion of the base plate, so that when the base plate is combined with the frame body of the pedal frame, the screw is tightened to fix the base plate and the frame body of the pedal frame together.
The through hole has a keyhole shape consisting of a circular portion and an extended portion that is extended from the circular portion in a backward direction of the base plate and that has a prescribed width smaller than a diameter of the circular portion, so that the external thread portion of the screw initially engaged with the circular portion of the through hole of the base plate is moved backwards and is engaged with the extended portion of the through hole when the base plate is moved backwards in order to combine the base plate and the frame body of the pedal frame together.
Furthermore, a nonslip board is attached to the backside surface of the front portion of the base plate, and it has an elongated hole (51) substantially matched with the through hole of the base plate. In addition, a secondary nonslip board is also attached to the backside surface of the back portion of the base plate.
According to this invention, it is possible to reliably remove the base plate from the pedal frame by merely loosening the screw without completely removing the screw from the frame body of the pedal frame, thus safely releasing engagement between the base plate and the frame body of the pedal frame.